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Inside Story of the Winners of iAniMagic2015 Part II: Bermudy Chen, Animation Desk in Filmmaking

In our first inside story of #iAniMagic2015, Daz Yang discussed how storyboard[feature] assisted her in conceptualizing her ideas, and shared some handy tips on the making of animation projects. We have since been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from you; it is incredible to know that Animation Desk has gathered a solid group of followers that inspire us to keep pushing it forward.

“The Super Coffee” by Bermudy, stood out among the others, and won the 2nd place during iAniMagic2015 contest.

In this edition, we have the first runner-up of iAniMagic2015, Bermudy Chen, talk about how Animation Desk streamlines his workflow in filmmaking and animation creation.

Bermudy received his bachelor degree in animation from Communication University of China, Beijing, China, a highly prestigious university particularly in the field of communication. He pursued his aspirations after graduation and joined the filmmaking industry, where his expertise resides, and have taken part in the production of some of the most bestselling cartoons and movies, such asKung Fu Bunny, and Monkey King: Hero is Back.

Working in the filmmaking industry requires a high-level of spontaneous flexibility. “I need to be able to quickly jot down ideas for my work, and I can do that with Animation Desk. I don’t need to follow complicated steps to create new frames, which is usually the case with other animation applications. With just one tap, a new frame is there for me, just in time before the inspiration fades.” Visual thinking is another skill that most filmmakers possess, it allows the team to stimulate ideas and reinforce the brainstorming process. “We often need to develop storylines for films and animations, and Animation Desk is the tool I will use to record thoughts and ideas in meetings.”

The Making of “Kung Fu Bunny”

The Making of “Monkey King: Hero is Back”

Introduced by his teacher while studying in university, Bermudy first learned Animation Desk at the time when the world was celebrating the first-generation iPad. “I remember my teacher was showing us the apps on his iPad, and said to us: ’You can even create animations on these things now.’, and that app his teacher referred to was Animation Desk (first edition), back in 2010.” Bermudy said.

Bermudy submitted 3 entries to #iAniMagic2015, and are entitled to 2 awards – the Second Place and the Audience Choice. It may seem hard and time-consuming for some participants to submit multiple entries and it was quite unexpected that Bermudy completed his projects across all of his iOS, Android and Windows devices. “My work revolves around technology in every possible way, it is crucial for me to be flexible with whatever device I have at the moment. The best part of Animation Desk is that it works across different platforms, I can continue working on my projects anytime, anywhere!”, he said.

It is important for animators to be able to smoothly go back and forth to inspect their frames, and make subtle changes to their projects. Animation Desk has a very clean and intuitive frame manager interface, where you can view your frames directly and adjust the sequence easily. Bermudy continued saying, “I’ve tried other animation apps, and it took me so long adjusting the frame sequence. I was unable to see my frames all together, and I even had to leave marks on the frames I wanted to adjust. Animation Desk is far ahead in this regard.”

Prior to the making of any film or animation, Bermudy considers creating storyboard for your project as the primary task. It doesn’t need to be detailed, or look pretty. “The purpose of drafting the storyboard is that it gives you a comprehensive understanding of your project, and a precognition to the difficulties you will encounter along the process. You are then all set to start working on your project.”

Hand-drawn storyboard of “The Super Coffee”

Find Daz and Bermudy’s stories helpful? The last edition of the inside story of #iAniMagic2015 is on its way. Find out what our winner, Alejandro Garcia has to share with all of you.

About the author

Robin Wang

Robin is the Project Manager of Animation Desk and Write-on Video at Kdan Mobile. Major in Marketing and Hospitality, his expertise has been applied to deliver exceptional performance in his career.

Graduated from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia, Robin has enjoyed his time of studying in this beautiful land. He has also lived in Wellington, New Zealand, Shanghai, China and now resides in his homeland Taiwan.

He loves travelling, eating great foods and being around with people who have a sense of humour.